LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County Regional Flood Control District said Thursday that the Upper Duck Creek Detention Basin did exactly what it was built to do despite drainage from the basin causing flash flooding in the Mountain's Edge neighborhood early that same morning.
Flood District General Manager Steven Parrish said flooding would have been much worse if the basin wasn't there.
"It actually captured all of the water like it is supposed to," Parrish said. "But the water had to drain out."
RELATED: Flood control district working to reduce water in Mountain's Edge neighborhood
Water from the basin's drainage pipe followed a natural wash toward Fort Apache Road and was flowing too fast for an earthen berm to divert it into a nearby drain.
"Down here by the road," Parrish said, "that's just a minor berm that got eroded out."
The National Weather Service Meteorologist Todd Lericos said the Monsoon dropped more than an inch of rain in less than an hour,
"Essentially, all of the water that fell here got funneled into one point," he said.
RELATED: Las Vegas Weather
Almost all of the rain fell in the 48 square mile watershed that could only drain toward the city.
"Everybody needs to realize, the valley slopes down from West to East towards Lake Mead," Lericos said. "So any time you get rain in the valley all of the water is going to generally flow there."
Parrish said more work needed done in this section of Fort Apache to prevent another flash flood.
"We need to connect the detention basin to the pipes down here," he said, "then it will all stay underground when that happens."
Parrish said there is a plan in place to connect the detention basin to the pipes below, but the work hasn't been started because the area is a sparsely developed section of the valley.
